An ORC (Organic-Rankine Cycle) is a thermodynamic cyclical process according to Rankine. This means that a working medium runs through various thermodynamic states in order to be transferred back into the initial liquid state again at the end. In the process, the working medium is brought to a higher pressure level with the aid of a pump. Then, the working medium is preheated to evaporation temperature and subsequently evaporated.
Thus, it is an evaporation process, in which an organic medium instead of water is evaporated. The created steam drives an expansion machine, e.g., a turbine, a piston or propeller motor, which in turn is coupled to an electric generator in order to generate power. Downstream from the working machine, the process medium enters a condenser where it is cooled down again through heat dissipation. Since water evaporates at 100° C. under atmospheric conditions, it is frequently impossible to use heat having a low temperature level, e.g., industrial waste heat or earth heat, to generate power. However, if organic media having lower boiling point temperatures are used, then it is possible to generate low-temperature steam.
ORC systems are advantageous in use also when exploiting biomass in connection with the combined generation of power and heat, for example, especially at relatively low power outputs, i.e., when the conventional biomass combustion technology seems relatively expensive. Biomass plants often have a fermenting device for the production of biogas, which normally has to be heated.
Generic waste-heat recovery systems are known from the cogeneration of electricity and heat field and composed of a combined heat and power plant linked to a downstream ORC. From German Published Patent Application No. 195 41 521, a system is known for increasing the electrical efficiency in the power generation from special gases by combustion engines, in which the waste heat of the motor is utilized for the further energy generation in a post-connected energy-conversion system. However, only the high-temperature heat from the cooling-water circuit and also from the exhaust-gas heat exchanger of the engine is provided for exploitation.
In addition, a diesel power unit integrated into a Rankine process is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,531, in which one cylinder is used for the expansion according to Rankine, and the other cylinders operate as diesel engine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,409 describes a system operating according to the Rankine process, in which the working fluid is preheated by a heat exchanger, through which the air from the outlet of a compressor of a machine having internal combustion is routed.
Block thermal power plants (BHKW) as plants for the cogeneration of electricity and heat are generally known. These are decentralized power generation plants, often driven by combustion engines, featuring a simultaneous utilization of the waste heat. As far as possible, the heat withdrawn via the cooling media is used for heating suitable objects.
In particular in the case of plants for the cogeneration of electricity and heat having a post-connected ORC as waste heat power system, machines have come to dominate that are based on engines having an exhaust-gas turbocharger for charging. That satisfies the demand for machines having very high electrical efficiencies, which are achievable only with the aid of turbocharging and recooling of the combustion-gas mixture heated by the condensation. Cooling of the combustion-gas mixture is generally required because the charge of the cylinder would otherwise be relatively poor. The cooling increases the density of the aspirated mixture, and the volumetric efficiency is improved. The output yield and the mechanical efficiency of the engine increase as a result.
Engine manufacturers stipulate a cooling-water intake temperature of only approximately 40 to 50° C. for the mixture cooling so that sufficient cooling of the mixture to be cooled is possible. Since this temperature level is relatively low, the heat extracted from the combustion-gas mixture in the currently known systems for the cogeneration of electricity and heat systems is dissipated to the environment, e.g., using a table-type cooler.
A system for utilizing waste heat to generate power is known from United States Published Patent Application No. 2007 02 40 420. There, using an ORC, the waste heat is utilized in order to heat a fluid and consequently evaporate it. This evaporated working medium then is employed to drive a shaft and to thereby produce mechanical power, or to produce electric power via an electric generator.
United States Published Patent Application No. 2009 02 77 400 also describes an apparatus for obtaining energy from waste heat. Here, a generator is used, which drives a common shaft via a turbine or an electric generator. Electrical energy in the form of a direct current is generated by the torque shaft. This direct current then is able to be fed into the power supply network and used for other purposes.
In addition, the preheating of the working medium in the ORC in two steps in a heating device is known from German Patent No. 10 2005 048 795, i.e., that the process medium in the ORC is heated by two heat exchangers connected in series downstream from a feeding pump; the first heat exchanger downstream from the feeding pump is provided as a first stage for the incoupling of low-temperature heat, and the following heat exchanger is provided as a second stage for the incoupling of high-temperature heat. The mixture cooling of the combustion engine is connected, via a circulation system, to the first heat exchanger downstream from the feeding pump, the heat from the cooling of the combustion-gas mixture aspirated by the combustion engine being used to preheat the process medium in the ORC and coupled into the first heat exchanger as low-temperature heat. A second heating circuit obtains heat from engine cooling water and from exhaust gas of the combustion engine and is connected to the second heat exchanger downstream from the feeding pump; the heat from the cooling circuit and the exhaust-gas are used to overheat and evaporate the process medium in the ORC and coupled into the second heat exchanger downstream from the feeding pump as high-temperature heat.